The statue, ‘Grave Naiskos of an Enthroned Woman with an Attendant’ ignited a fierce debate about the possibility of modern technology in ancient times. On display at The J. Paul Getty Museum in Malibu, California, the statue in question has been dated to around 100 BC and sourced possibly to a tiny island east of the Greek mainland, named Delos, which has provided ancient artworks of enormous mythological, cultural, and archaeological importance.

The description of this great statue is as follows: “Lounging in a cushion armchair, a woman reaches out to touch the lid of a shallow chest held by a servant girl on this funerary.” However, a few things have been noted that question the truth behind the depicted “shallow chest,” and the woman receiving it.

Some say this shallow chest is simply a jewellery box, however, others point out that the woman’s attention is on the top portion of the screen. Why is she not looking inside at the box’s contents? Also, there are two holes drilled into the side of the box, theorized as what would be USB ports to the ancient laptop while historians explain that conspicuous holes aren’t uncommon in ancient Greek sculpture work, as they were sometimes embellished with perishable materials. So perhaps there were pieces of the box that fell out? Or were the holes intentional?

An argument was presented that the box is only an analog tablet. What is an analog tablet? Well, it was a slab of wood that was covered with a material one could write on. That material was often fine wax, in which case writing was done using a pointed stylus. The back of the stylus was flat – a stroke of the flat end could quickly erase what was written leaving the page blank again. For more permanent records, the wood could be whitewashed, and painted or written on using a pen dipped in ink. Often these tablets were joined together to form something like a bulky notebook.

Moreover, the woman who is receiving the box is thought to simply be a wealthy woman, but others have a theory that the woman is the Oracle of Delphi, who was a divine being who acted as the official conduit between man and the gods, and who supposedly allowed priests to connect with the gods to retrieve advanced information.

No matter the different theories about what this box is, I would like to present the question: What if it were true? There are certainly many unexplained events and mysterious pieces of history out in the world. What if it were possible that one could travel back into ancient times? Would you go?

To read more about this mysterious subject, visit the articles: "People are saying this ancient Greek 'laptop' is proof of time travel," and "Is this ancient Greek statue proof someone took a laptop back in time (or is it just a TABLET?)"